[Effects of asbestos on respiratory pathology. 27 cases observed in 6 years in a pneumo-phthisiology department in Nantes].

A search for respiratory disease due to asbestos permitted the authors, during a review of 6 years' activity on a Chest Unit in Nantes, to collect 27 cases which represents 2.4% of all cases examined. They were male subjects usually aged about 60 years exposed to dust mildly but continuously during a long career as metal workers, mainly in the shipyards. Pleural involvement was constant, usually limited to characteristic pleural calcifications which were well tolerated. Two cases of asbestos pleurisy were diagnosed, but above all we noted 7 cases of mesothelioma with a very poor prognosis. It is difficult to say whether asbestos is responsible for bronchial carcinoma but we noted two cases in patients with calcifications. The authors emphasise the necessity for revision of the table of occupational diseases which does not yet include pleural disease due to asbestos.